Options Activity Soars For This Oil Drilling Company

Call activity surged in EXCO Resources yesterday as investors got long the oil driller before an analyst meeting later in the month.

OptionMonster's monitoring systemsdetected unusual activity in the December 20 calls, which experienced institutional-sized buying at $0.60. Volume in the strike totaled 3,764 contracts, more than five times existing open interest.

Exco rose 1.8 percent to $15.23 yesterday and is up 13 percent in the last month. The stock needs to climb 35 percent by expiration for the options to turn a profit.

The call buyers may expect positive news from Exco's analyst meeting on Sept. 23, or simply view the stock as an attractive buy. The company's earnings beat analyst forecasts the last time it released results on Aug. 4, but revenue missed estimates.

Our systems also detected activity in the September 15 calls, although volume was below open interest and it wasn't clear whether the options were bought or sold. An investor may have sold the September 15 calls to purchase the December 20 strikes, which would still reflect a positive outlook on the stock.

Overall options activity in Exco was almost five times average yesterday, with calls outnumbering puts by 39 to 1.